U2
was formed in the summer
of 1978 while its members
were still students at
Dublin's Mount Temple
School. Bono (vocals),
the Edge (guitars,
piano), Larry Mullen, Jr.
(drums) and Adam Clayton
(bass) played small
venues in their native
Dublin and the following
year released their first
record, a one-off
three-track EP titled
U23. By January 1980, U2
had built up a loyal
following and the Hot
Press (Ireland's leading
rock magazine) Reader's
Poll placed them at the
top of five categories.
In April 1980, U2 signed
to Island Records and one
month later released
their first single,
"11 O'Clock Tick
Tock."

U2
began to work with Steve
Lillywhite on their first
album in August 1980. The
single, "A Day
Without Me," was
released in the same
month and by October the
group was ready for its
first European shows. The
Boy album was released in
October, along with a
third single, "I
Will Follow."

During
November 1980, U2
travelled to the United
States to play their
first shows there. Back
in Dublin in January
1981, U2 collected nine
firsts in the Hot Press
Reader's Poll. One month
later, at the final
sold-out show of the
British tour, 700 people
had to be turned away
from London's 3,000
capacity Lyceum Ballroom.
U2 spent the next three
months touring the United
States.

In
June 1981, the first
single off their second
album, Octoberwas
released.
"Fire" was
recorded at Compass Point
Studios during a break in
the U.S. tour. October
entered the U.K. album
charts at No. 11 after
one week of release, the
second single from the
album, Gloria, also made
the U.K. chart. European
and American tours
followed, culminating in
the 5,000 capacity show
at Dublin's RDS in
January 1982.

The
release of War in March
1983 marked a turning
point in the band's
career: the single
"New Year's
Day" was a U.K. Top
10 hit and the album
entered the U.K. charts
at No.1 and went to the
Top 10 in the United
States.

Recorded
at Red Rocks Amphitheater
in Colorado during their
U.S. tour, Under a Blood
Red Sky was U2's first
live album. Upon its
release in November 1983,
it topped the chart in
the U.K. and reached
platinum status by
January 1984. Rolling
Stone magazine's writer's
poll voted U2 "Band
of the Year" for
1983.

In
December 1983, U2
undertook their first
tour of Japan and it was
during this trip that the
group visited the
Unforgettable Fire -- an
exhibition of photographs
of the bombing of
Hiroshima - the impact of
which was felt in their
next album release.

U2
started work in May 1984
on their fourth studio
album, The Unforgettable
Fire, with new producers
Brian Eno and Daniel
Lanois at Slane Castle
outside Dublin. The album
was released in October
and entered the U.K.
charts at No.1 Further
touring in 1984 and 1985
saw landmark shows at
London's Wembley Arena,
New York's Madison Square
Garden and Dublin's Croke
Park.

In
July 1985, U2 performed
at the charity benefit
Live Aid and then
returned to Dublin to
begin work on their next
album. They interrupted
rehearsals in June 1986
to play on a six-date
American tour, titled
"A Conspiracy of
Hope," to benefit
Amnesty International.
The tour also featured
Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed,
Bryan Adams, the Neville
Brothers, Joan Baez and
the Police.

In
May 1985, a specially
priced EP, Wide Awake in
America, was released
only in America. It
featured live recordings
of "Bad" and
"A Sort of
Homecoming."

The
Joshua Tree, released in
March 1987, established
U2's stellar status. The
album went straight to
No. 1 on the U.K. charts
and reached the same
position in the U.S. by
April. When the Joshua
Tree tour kicked off in
Arizona that same month,
Time magazine placed the
band on its cover,
proclaiming U2
"Rock's Hottest
Ticket." In eight
months, U2 had played
more than 100 shows, The
Joshua Tree had sold in
excess of 14 million
copies and topped the
charts in 22 countries.

In
spring 1988 collected two
Grammy Awards, for Album
of the Year and Best Rock
Performance. The
following October, U2
released the double
album, Rattle and Hum,
produced by Jimmy Iovine.
The album earned the
group two more Grammy
Awards, this time for
Best Rock Performance and
Best Video.

For
1991's Achtung Baby, U2
re-enlisted the
production talents of
Daniel Lanois and Brian
Eno. The album was
recorded in various
locations, including
Berlin and Dublin and
contained the hit singles
"One,"
"Even Better Than
the Real Thing" and
"Mysterious
Ways."

Early
in 1992, U2 launched an
elaborate tour called
"Zoo TV."
During the tour, Bono
adopted an alter-ego
image, which he dubbed
"the Fly," a
signal of his
disillusionment with his
mega-pop stardom. The
outrageous tour was
followed up by the
10-track CD, Zooropa.

After
an extended hiatus, U2
returned in 1997 with the
electronica-influenced
album Pop. The album
spawned the hits
"Staring at the
Sun" and
"Discotheque"
and sent the group back
on the road on one of the
most expensive arena
tours ever staged. The
international PopMart
tour featured the world's
largest video screen (150
feet x 50 feet), a
35-foot Mirrorball Lemon,
a 12-foot wide Stuffed
Olive (on a 100-foot
toothpick) and a single
100-foot high Golden
Arch.

In
October 2000, U2 released
their first album in 3
years, All That You Can't
Leave Behind.
"Beautiful
Day," the first
single (and accompanying
video) from the album,
was released in late
summer the same year.

From
All-Music Guide

Through a combination of zealous righteousness and post-punk experimentalism, U2
became one of the most popular rock & roll bands of the '80s. Equally known
for their sweeping sound as for their grandiose statement about politics and
religion, U2 were rock & roll crusaders during an era of synthesized pop and
heavy metal. The Edge provided the group with a signature sound by creating
sweeping sonic landscapes with his heavily processed, echoed guitars. Though the
Edge's style wasn't conventional, the rhythm section of Adam Clayton and Larry
Mullen Jr. played the songs as driving hard-rock, giving the band a forceful,
powerful edge that was designed for arena rock. And their lead singer, Bono, was
frontman who had a knack of grand gestures that played better in arenas than
small clubs. It's no accident that footage of Bono parading with a white flag
with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" blaring in the background became the
defining moment of U2's early career -- there rarely was a band that believed so
deeply in the rock's potential for revolution as U2, and there rarely was a band
that didn't care if they appeared foolish in the process. During the course of
the early '80s, the group quickly built up a dedicated following through
constant touring and a string of acclaimed records. By 1987, the band's
following had grown large enough to propel them to level of international
superstars with the release of The Joshua Tree. Unlike many of their
contemporaries, U2 was able to sustain their popularity in the '90s by
reinventing themselves as a post-modern, self-consciously ironic dance-inflected
pop-rock act, owing equally to the experimentalism of late '70s Bowie and '90s
electronic dance and techno. By performing such a successful reinvention, the
band confirmed its status as one of the most popular bands in rock history, in
addition to earning additional critical respect.

With its textured guitars, U2's sound was undeniably indebted to post-punk, so
it's slightly ironic that the band formed in 1976, before punk had reached their
hometown of Dublin, Ireland. Larry Mullen Jr. (b. October 31, 1961; drums)
posted a notice on a high school bulletin board asking for fellow musicians to
form a band. Bono (b. Paul
Hewson, May 10, 1960; vocals, guitar), the Edge (b.
David Evans, August 8, 1961; guitar, keyboards, vocal), Adam Clayton (bass), and
Dick Evans responded to the ad, and the group formed as a Beatles and Stone
cover band called the Feedback, before changing their name to the Hype in 1977.
Shortly afterward, Dick Evans left the band to form the Virgin Prunes. Following
his departure, the group changed their name to U2.

U2's first big break arrived in 1978, when they won a talent contest sponsored
by Guinness; the band were in their final year of high school at the time. by
the end of the year, the Stranglers' manager Paul McGuinness saw the band play
and offered to manage the group. Even with a powerful manager in their corner,
the band had trouble making much headway -- they failed an audition with CBS
Records at the end of the year. In the fall of 1979, U2 released their debut EP
U2:3. The EP was available only in Ireland and it topped the national charts.
Shortly afterward, they began to play in England, but they failed to gain much
attention.

U2 had one other chart-topping single, "Another Day," in early 1980
before Island Records offered the group a contract. Later that year, the band's
debut, Boy, was released. Produced by Steve
Lillywhite, the record's sweeping,
atmospheric but edgy sound was unlike most of its post-punk contemporaries, and
the band earned further attention for its public embrace of Christianity; only
Clayton was not a practicing Christian. Through constant touring, including
opening gigs for Talking Heads and wet T-shirt contests, U2 was able to take Boy
into the American Top 70 in early 1981. October, also produced by
Lillywhite,
followed in the fall, and it became their British breakthrough, reaching number
11 on the charts. By early 1983, Boy's "I Will Follow" and October's
"Gloria" had become staples on MTV, which, along with their touring,
gave the group a formidable cult following in the US.

Released in the spring of 1983, the
Lillywhite-produced War was U2's
breakthrough release, entering the UK charts at number one and elevating them
into arenas in the United States, where the album peaked at number 12. War had a
stronger political message than its predecessors, as evidenced by the UK,
college radio, and MTV hits "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "New
Year's Day." During the supporting tour, the band filmed their concert at
Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater, releasing the show as an EP and video title
Under A Blood Red Sky. The EP entered in the UK charts at number two, becoming
the most successful live recording in British history. U2 had become one of the
most popular bands in the world, and their righteous political stance soon
became replicated by many other bands, providing the impetus for the Band Aid
and Live Aid projects in 1984 and 1985, respectively. For the followup to War,
U2 entered the studios with co-producers Brian Eno and Daniel
Lanois, who helped
give the resulting album an experimental, atmospheric tone. Released in the fall
of 1984, The Unforgettable Fire replicated the chart status of War, entering the
UK charts at number one and reaching number 12 in the US the album also
generated the group's first Top 40 hit in America with the Martin Luther King
Jr. tribute "(Pride) In The Name of Love." U2 supported the album with
a successful international tour, highlighted by a show-stealing performance at
Live Aid. Following the tour, the band released the live EP, Wide Awake in
America in 1985.

While U2 had become one of the most successful rock bands of the '80s, they
didn't truly become superstars until the spring 1987 release of The Joshua Tree.
Greeted with enthusiastic reviews, many of which proclaimed the album a
masterpiece, The Joshua Tree became the band's first American number one hit and
its third straight album to enter the UK charts at number one; in England, it
set a record by going platinum within 28 hours. Generating the US number one
hits "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm
Looking For," The Joshua Tree and the group's supporting tour became the
biggest success of 1987, earning the group the cover of respected publications
like Time magazine. U2 decided to film a documentary about their American tour,
recording new material along the way. The project became Rattle & Hum, a
film that was supported by a double-album soundtrack that was divided between
live tracks and new material. While the album Rattle & Hum was a hit, the
record and film received the weakest reviews of U2's career, with many critics
taking issue with the group's fascination with American roots music like blues,
soul, country and folk. Following the release of Rattle & Hum, the band took
an extended hiatus.

U2 reconvened in Berlin 1990 to record a new album with Eno and
Lanois. While
the sessions for the album were difficult, the resulting record, Achtung Baby,
represented a successful reinvention of the band's trademark sound. Where they
had been inspired by post-punk in the early career and American music during
their mid-career, U2 delved into electronic and dance music with Achtung Baby.
Inspired equally be late '70s Bowie and the Madchester scene in the UK, Achtung
Baby was sonically more eclectic and adventurous than U2's earlier work, and it
didn't alienate their core audience. The album debuted at number one throughout
the world and spawned Top 10 hits with "Mysterious Ways" and
"One." Early in 1992, the group launched an elaborate tour to support
Achtung Baby. Dubbed Zoo TV, the tour was an innovative blend of multi-media
electronics, featuring a stage filled with televisions, suspended cars and
cellular phone calls. Bono devised an alter-ego called the Fly, which was a
knowing send-up of rock stardom. Even under the ironic guise of the Fly and Zoo
TV, it was evident that U2 was looser and more fun than ever before, even though
they had not abandoned their trademark righteous political anger.

Following the completion of the American Zoo TV tour in late and before the
launch of the European leg of tour, U2 entered the studio to complete an EP of
new material that became the full-length
Zooropa. Released in the summer of 1993
to coincide with the tour of the same name, Zooropa demonstrated a heavier
techno and dance influence than Achtung Baby and it received strong reviews.
Nevertheless, the album stalled at sales of two million and failed to generate a
big hit single. During the Zooropa tour, the Fly metamorphosed into the demonic
MacPhisto, which dominated the remainder of the tour. Upon the completion of the
Zooropa tour in late 1993, the band took an extended break. During 1995, U2
re-emerged with "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," a glam-rock
theme to Batman Forever that was produced by Nellee Hooper
(Bjork, Soul II
Soul). Later that year, they recorded the collaborative album Original
Soundtracks, Vol. 1 with Brian
Eno, releasing the album under the name the
Passengers late in 1995. It was greeted with a muted reception, both critically
and commercially.

Many hardcore U2 fans, including drummer Larry Mullen Jr., were unhappy with the
Passengers project, and U2 promised their next album, to be released in the fall
of 1996, would be a rock & roll record. The album took longer to complete
than usual, being pushed back to the spring of 1997. During its delay, a few
tracks, including the forthcoming first single "Discotheque," were
leaked, and it became clear that the new album was going to be heavily
influenced by techno, dance and electronic music. When it was finally released,
Pop did indeed bear a heavier dance influence, but it was greeted with strong
initial sales, as well as some of the strongest reviews of U2's career.